Jury Verdict of Bias Upheld in Case of Lesbian UPS Worker

Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein affirmed a jury verdict this week in favor of a lesbian who claimed hostile work environment discrimination at United Parcel Service, and decried the fact that "no federal statute explicitly protects against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."

Ruling in Roberts v. United Parcel Service, 13-cv-6161, Weinstein rejected UPS's claims that plaintiff Tameeka Roberts had been subjected only to "petty slights and trivial inconveniences" that did not rise to the level of a hostile work environment required to support a claim under the New York City Human Rights Law.

He said the jury had "found improper under the law repeated advice from plaintiff's supervisor that her sexual orientation as a lesbian was evil and needed to be changed in accordance with religious dictates."